


descanso viii: on your lips my life is hung

by marythefan (marylex)



Series: descansos [5]
Category: Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Character of Color, Female Protagonist, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-25
Updated: 2007-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-06 21:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marylex/pseuds/marythefan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is something she does not fully understand, this return again and again to a site that marks the sudden death of comrades and friends, as if one wishes to press upon a bruise left on the heart by their departure.<br/>Teyla.<br/>For "Seige 2."</p>
            </blockquote>





	descanso viii: on your lips my life is hung

It is something Teyla does not fully understand, this return again and again to a site that marks the sudden death of comrades and friends, as if one wishes to press upon a bruise left on the heart by their departure. Surely it is better to carry the memories of sunlight on upturned faces, strong arms stretching, laughter, drops of rain glinting like precious gems in their hair. Her own people mark the graves of loved ones, if there are bodies left and graves to mark, but then they leave them behind. Constant movement to stay alive and ahead of the Wraith darts has left the compulsion deep in their bones, bred through generations, even when Athosians ranged over only a single planet. So there is something discomfiting - exposed - about the burned-out waxy shells of old candles already collecting in one corner or sitting halfway down the corridor of the hall where one of the defensive teams met their Wraith attackers during the siege, where three of John's people fell with two of Teyla's own in defense of the City of the Ancients.

One of the candles has melted down onto the computer disc it sits upon, the kind she knows stores data for the Earth expedition machines, and she wonders if it contains music from the performer John told her Sgt. Parker was named for. She remembers Parker playing it for her, once, the long slow glide of the instrument coiling out of the computer and around her spine. It would be like many of the Earthers to leave such a thing, as if the dead could hear it, rather than keeping it in remembrance of Parker's joy in the music.

She understands a little better the farewell in the rituals of the two men who stand at the bend of the corridor, beseeching their god to forgive any wrongdoing and look with favor upon Sgt. Zaman. She folds herself quietly to the floor to avoid disturbing them while they finish their supplications and their praises. When they depart, they leave no markings behind, and she recognizes the finality in the set of their shoulders, knows they will not return to leave candles or computer discs or other mementos.

She has gone with Dr. Beckett to the mainland and returned with two smooth stones, the kind her people usually leave in an empty grave, bones of the earth left to stand in for the lost bodies of those culled or gone missing, each funeral attendant placing one to create a small pile and speaking a memory the entire party can carry away in return. She rises now and puts one of the stones in the bend of the corridor where Edan's body was found, slumped over Sgt. Zaman's. She places the other a few paces down the hall, beside one of the collections of candles, where Salen was sprawled next to Lt. Crown. Perhaps at the end, Salen gravitated toward the female commander as she often had turned to Teyla in the years since following her older brother on the warrior's path.

Teyla stands between the stones for long minutes, remembering Edan's quick laughter, Salen's quicker hands, the grace and stealth on the hunt that earned both the honor-name of Taletha.

"Journey well," she finally says and turns away.

She does not wish them luck at finding the halls of the Ancestors - what can one say to those who already have fallen in defense of those walls?

She does not return.


End file.
